Established in 2009 as a U.S. company, Ezose is an affiliate
of the diagnostics division of Shionogi & Co. Ltd. in Osaka, Japan.

Kyowa both manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals,
focusing on its core business areas of oncology, nephrology and
immunology/allergy. As the holding company of the Kyowa Hakko Kirin Group, it
also manages the business activities in the biochemicals segment. The company
employs about 7,200 in its worldwide operations.

"Shionogi wanted Ezose to grow in the entrepreneurial
setting of the U.S. and amid the 'pharm belt' of the east coast," says Ezose
Chief Operating Officer Dr. Scott A. Siegel. "Like many U.S. biotechs, Ezose
has operated with speed and considerable freedom in decision-making since it
brought Japanese and American scientists together at its U.S. site. At the same
time, Ezose has benefited from the larger corporate resources of Shionogi and
its diagnostics division."

"We look forward to putting our unique glycan-analysis
capabilities to the service of the specific research interests of Kyowa Hakko
Kirin," adds Dr. Hidehisa Asada, vice president of R&D at Ezose. "As the
structure of our collaboration anticipates, the research will seek new
discoveries that enable novel therapeutic strategies and sustain the flow of
new products to market."

Under terms of the research agreement, Kyowa will fund
several glycan-biomarker and other discovery projects, with an option for
further research and development. Kyowa will actively participate in the
research and help direct the biomarker selection process, but no precise targets
or therapeutics areas for the research have been announced nor were other
details of the agreement disclosed.

Glycomics is the study of glycans, the sugar chains that
during the biochemical process of glycosylation become attached to many
proteins expressed by human cells. The particular glycans involved help
determine the function of the resulting glycoprotein and its role in health and
disease.

"Glycomics lagged behind genomics and proteomics because
there wasn't a practical high-throughput method to do glycan analysis," says
Siegel. "Identifying and quantifying glycans was a slow and laborious task that
was difficult to apply to biomedical research, even though it was understood
that glycans had an important role in health and disease. The contribution of
Ezose has been to provide a high-throughput method with our GlycanMap
technology."

"The technology is actually a suite of technologies—glycan
enrichment, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics—that have been integrated to
accelerate glycan identification and quantification," Siegel states. "The
technologies, combined with assay automation, provide the throughput and
repeatability needed for biomarker research and bioprocessing application."

Such glycans can serve as novel biomarkers to aid in the
development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests, including companion
diagnostics. In addition, Ezose is counting on glycomics' potential for
uncovering new therapeutic targets and mechanisms and for guiding the
development and manufacture of glycosylated biologics and biosimilars.

Ezose offers glycomics capabilities ranging from glycan
analytics and biomarker discovery to diagnostic development and
commercialization. The company tailors these capabilities to the needs of
corporate partners under collaborative R&D and analytical-services
agreements.

"The interest in gaining access to this technology is now
apparent," says Siegel. "Ezose has embarked upon more than 25 collaborative
projects with 15 external partners since the company started operations in 2009."